French Art Deco Purple, Beige and Green Wool Rug by Jules Coudyser BB7101 10'0" × 15'0" $22,000

A French Art Deco rug designed by Jules Coudyser. Coudyser was an interior designer who also manufactured and retailed furnishings from his store in Paris. He continued on the tradition of the tapissier-décorateur and occupied a number of other prestigious positions, including serving as the Vice-President of the textiles committee for the 1925 International Exhibition and as a professor at the Conservatoire des Artes et Métiers.

Although generally vintage rugs from all places in the world share certain common features and are rather distinguishable from antique carpets, they differ quite significantly from one another depending on the exact place of their origin. While a Persian antique rug from Tabriz may be easily confused with a similar creation coming from a different weaving center, or even a different country, like Turkey, European Art Deco rugs, especially those from the first half of the 20th century, are much more diverse in terms of style and applied patterns. Inspired by new trends back then yet still deeply rooted in tradition, and sometimes folklore, of a given country, vintage carpets exhibit an immense array of designs and aesthetics characteristic to nations that produced them. We would like to present some major categories of vintage rug designs and show which way of thinking and historical background influenced particular weaving styles.

Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. The Art Deco movement led to a fast evolution of the rug and textile design, among other art forms. Rug design evolved from traditional floral and highly ornamental to a style of angular elegance with geometric, abstract and modern figurative motifs. The design is frequently spare, geometric, and architectural. The rugs created during this period remain elegant and refined to this day.